Dabur's 4 year plan

Wed, 1 Sep 01:30 pm

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Although well above the dotted line, Indian indices continued to trade range bound in the previous two hours of trade. Stocks from the metals and PSU space are among the maximum gainers while stocks from the consumer durables and auto space are among the minimum gainers.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up by 112 points, while NSE-Nifty is trading 28 points above the dotted line. BSE-Midcap index is up by 1.2%, while BSE-Smallcap index is trading 1.3% above yesterday's closing. The rupee is trading at 46.92 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks are trading up led by Force Motors and Ashok Leyland. India's biggest auto manufacturer Maruti Suzuki reported its monthly sales numbers for August. The company registered its highest even monthly sales at 104,791 units, a 23.56% YoY jump over the corresponding period last year. It is the third time this year that the company has crossed the one hundred thousand mark. Sale for the domestic market stood at 92,674 units, a rise of 32.5% YoY over August 2009. However, exports declined by 18.4% YoY to stand at 12,117 units. Sales of M800 declined by 29.8% YoY to 1,919 units. The A2 segment (comprising Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Swift, A-Star and Ritz) saw a 25.69% YoY jump in sales to 65,953 units during the month. Sales of the A3 segment (consisting of SX4 and DZiRE) increased by 34% to stand at 10,479 units. Maruti's total passenger car sales rose 32.9% to 92,508 units during August.

FMCG stocks are trading mixed with Camlin and Henkel being the top gainers while Marico and Gillette are the top losers. Dabur has recently announced its vision for the next 4 years. The company aims to double its sales to Rs 70 bn and its profits to Rs 10 bn on the back of its healthcare division during this period. As per the new roadmap, Dabur is looking to expand its food, home and personal care businesses as well. Under the healthcare business expansion strategy, the company plans to enter several new therapeutic areas with presence in new over-the-counter categories. As per a company official, these categories include dermatology, gastroenteritis, cough and cold, women's healthcare, heart & metabolism, pain management and vitamins, minerals and supplements. The aim is to grow the healthcare business to Rs 15 bn from around Rs 8 bn currently. The company is also looking to increase sales of its home personal care business from Rs 17 bn to Rs 28 bn and its foods business from Rs 4 bn to Rs 7 bn. In fact Dabur has already got shareholders' approval to raise up to Rs 20 bn to fund its expansion.